Ahhh,  Oregon.  The most magical place on earth.  At least for me.  There are not enough words for me to properly describe how much I love this place.  I’ll tell anyone,  I am not a city girl.  I can visit the city, but I am all about the wilderness. Oregon is one the most diverse states in the U.S.- beaches, deserts, mountains, infinite waterfalls, hotsprings, snow, lakes, rainforests.  All in one state! You could be in soggy Portland and drive an hour through the mountains and you hit Warm Springs….which is pretty damn barren.

A simple 25 minute drive from Portland and you are on highway 84 along the Columbia River Gorge. I am talking mountain ranges and waterfalls everywhere you look.  The fog sits on the edge of the gorge making it extremely eerie and picturesque. One of my favorite places along the gorge is the vista house.  Panoramic views of Portland on the left and the gorge on the right.  The gorge is a hikers dream.  More trails than you can think of.

In February, I attempted to see the coast of Oregon but of course the day I had planned to do so, there was hurricane force winds hitting the coast.  So we opted for some Tillamook Dairy farm icecream and cheese stop and then an interesting drive back through the mountains on the sketchiest road in the wind and rain. It was definitely a drive I will remember.  This time it was the total opposite.  Perfect weather every. single. day.  It rained for maybe 2 hours of my trip and that was my last day through Mt. Hood.  I have still YET to see Mt. Hood.  Never a clear day when I am near that thing,

Anyhoo… as I ramble on.  I woke well before sunrise so that I could make the hour and a half trek to cannon beach for sunrise.  I wanted to have my favorite place all to myself and it was heaven.  The moon had the beach lit up and reflected off the wet sand. After a few shots I just sat on a log and took it all in.  Life was definitely good at that exact moment.  The tides were low enough for me to explore the tide pools around haystack rock while the town started to rise up for their Tuesday morning grind.

 I started my trek down highway 101 towards my destination of Florence.  I made way too many pitstops along the way.  I am not sure how anyone drives with all the distractions on this damn highway.  Beautiful views EVERYWHERE you turn.  Dangerous.  A few pull off views and a little pit stop at Cape Kiwanda

 More glorious road side views. There are alot of those here.

 I am horrible and need to start writing things down when I travel.  Like this glorious little view point along the coast.  I hung out here for a little while.  Walking some of their trails to a sweet little private area in those woods you see.  I sat at the picnic table and had a little lunch and just watched the wave rumble on in.

My selfie game was strong this trip.

The Yaquina Headlight did not disappoint.  I am glad I turned around to go see this gem. I think I am going to start a little collection of light houses around the U.S.

 Ahh.. The glorious Cape Perpetua in central Oregon.  Home of Thor’s Well.  I snagged a few images of Thor’s well but unfortunately, the tides were too high for me to get the full experience of the Thunder rolls. Still a glorious place to snag a rock to sit on and just take it all in.  Side note, be sure to use the restroom before you decide to sit and listen to wave crashing onto rocks.

 I loved Devils Elbow.  I was able to check out the Heceta Head light from below (never made the trek up) and walk along the creek under the bridge.

 The best views.

 My last stop of the day was just past Florence at the Dunes.  Oregon’s Dunes are the largest expanse of coastal dunes in North America.  One of the coolest places I have ever explored.  The sand was strangely easy to hike around in too.

 Talk about sick view for an airbnb.  I did nothing but Airbnbs for this trip and this airbnb had the sicket lake view.  10 points for camp ground airbnbs.